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Thomas Deacon Education Trust

TDA students secure prestigious Arkswright Scholarships

Thomas Deacon Academy is delighted to announce that year 11 students, Zara Sharpe-Dai, William Meddings and Naveera Khan, have secured full Arkwright scholarships following a year-long exam, interview and selection process

This is an outstanding achievement, something for which they should be highly congratulated.

An Arkwright Engineering Scholarship is the most prestigious scholarship of its kind in the UK, designed to inspire and nurture school-age students to be the country’s future leaders of the engineering profession.

The Scholarships are awarded to high-calibre 16-year-old students through a rigorous selection process and the opportunity supports students through their further education.

Upon securing a scholarship, scholars are matched with a suitable commercial sponsor who offers support through hands-on work experience, expert advice and a personal mentor to help with aspects of studies and career planning.

Thomas Deacon Academy has links with ARM, a Tech giant based in Cambridge, who contribute to the initial entry cost of suitable candidates and go on to become main sponsors for TDA students who are awarded the scholarship.

This year, 10 TDA students applied to Arkwright and, after the first stage, this was reduced down to 7 who went on to complete the entry exam. 4 of these students progressed to the interview selection process. The interview is rigorous and the students worked hard to prepare, with support from year 12 student, Ahmet Kucuk, who was awarded the scholarship in 2018, and maths teacher Mr Baksh.

We were delighted to find out that Zara, William and Naveera had been offered full scholarships with Aqilah Ameer only just missing out. Arkwright were keen to offer their congratulations to all four students for getting through to the interview stage, an accolade in itself.

Claire Dillon, Head of Art, Design Technology and ICT, said ‘I have been involved in entering and supporting students through the Arkwright Scholarship process for the last five years. We have increased the number of entries year on year and this year to have three students achieve the full scholarship is unprecedented. We are extremely proud of our students; they are a huge asset to the school and the future of Engineering’. 

Rick Carroll, Principal added, ‘The students should be very proud of their achievements; this is an outcome of their continued hard work, resilience and determination. I am grateful for the staff who have supported the students on this journey’.